


Dick Grayson and the Slide of Terror

by chibi_nightowl



Series: Myth-Bats [11]
Category: Batman (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics), Titans (Comics)
Genre: Batfamily bonding, Gen, Indiana Jones References, The Slide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 07:09:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12316233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibi_nightowl/pseuds/chibi_nightowl
Summary: Grinning, Dick closes his laptop. He’s practically quivering with excitement. Who’d have thought combining a myth with Indiana Jones would be so damn easy?





	Dick Grayson and the Slide of Terror

**Author's Note:**

> Mythbats is back! To be honest, I've been sitting on this one for over two months now and just finished it this weekend...

Dick lay listlessly on his sofa, a pillow under his right knee and an ice pack on top. He’d wrenched it good earlier tonight on patrol and is in half a mind to go to the Cave to have Alfred look at it. But he’d taken some pain meds already and he knows he’d be in for _the look_ if he tries driving while under their influence.

He’ll go tomorrow.

Decision made, he idly turns on the TV and starts flipping through the channels. At this time of night, there’s not much on, even with the deluxe cable package he pays through the nose for. Over 250 channels and there’s nothing on.

He’s scrolling through the channels so fast, he has to backtrack when something catches his attention. It’s the beginning of _Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom_. Not his favorite movie of the series, but right now, it’s fine. He’s seen it so many times it simply means he can space out when he wants to and not miss a thing _._

Has Damian seen these movies yet? He and Steph had made it their mission to work on the kid’s pop culture knowledge, but it was slow going. Dick makes a mental note to drag the littlest Robin over for a movie night sometime soon. Perhaps he can convince his other brothers to come over too. He suddenly feels morose. Tim had been telling him the other day about what Jason had done for him.

Exploding jawbreakers. Exploding water heaters. Jokes about Tim liking a big boom as much as Jason and Roy.

When is he going to get a chance to do something cool with his brothers? Fruit Ninja was great, but they didn’t want his help with the Thanksgiving story, he was pretty much Tim’s camera man for the coffee creamer explosion, and Damian just used him to buy paint for his.

Dick remembers something rather important about that one. Damian started the ball rolling for his myth on his own. He convinced Jason and Tim to help him build it. He involved him by taking him paint shopping. _  
_

What if he came up with something for them to do?

He tries to remember various clips from the TV show, but keeps coming up blank. The show was more Tim’s style than his, although he didn’t mind watching it with him during one of their rare nights off. His head snaps up as he takes notice of the scene playing on the wall mounted screen in front of him.

Indy’s just grabbed Willie and Short Round and they’re jumping out of the plane that’s about to crash into the side of the mountain. The inflatable raft opens beneath them and they land with a thud on the snowy mountainside. The raft then starts a rapid decent over the snow.

Dick’s breath catches. There was a similar myth to this, involving a slide down the side of a hill and into a lake? He rolls over and grabs his laptop, opening it up and bringing up YouTube. Quickly finding the clip, he watches it, then watches it again.

Grinning, Dick closes his laptop. He’s practically quivering with excitement, but knows there’s nothing more to do tonight. Who’d have thought combining a myth with Indiana Jones would be so damn easy?

*****

Turns out, it's not as easy as he thought it would be. 

Damian resists the idea of a movie night for two weeks before he finally caves. That monumental task done, Dick turns his attention to Tim and Jason. If he can get just one of them there, he's got a chance to sell the idea. 

As usual, Tim is the easier one to convince. Jason doesn't even return his calls or his text messages. Which, yes, this is normal for him but it still hurts. He'd hoped they were moving past that.

The first movie manages to sufficiently capture Damian's attention. He barely says a word throughout it and even shushes Tim when his phone goes off halfway through. 

They take a short break between movies. 

"Why do we have to watch the second one?" Tim complains quietly as he rummages through Dick's fridge while Damian's in the bathroom. 

"I _would_ skip it but there's something I want you to watch." Dick grins, leaning against the counter watching his brother make a face about the lack of anything edible in the fridge. The pizzas they’d ordered earlier are long gone. 

"Me? Why?" Tim gives him a wary look as he stands up straight and goes to the drawer Dick keeps all his takeout menus in. 

"I've been thinking and," he pauses dramatically, "...there's a myth I want to do."

Tim perks up instantly. "Really? Which one?"

"Watch the movie." Dick winks. "You're the smart one."

His brother makes a face. "Fine. Then in the spirit of the movie, are there any Indian takeout menus here?"

It's obvious this movie doesn't capture Damian's attention the same way the first one did. "This is stupid," he announces barely five minutes into it. 

"Just give it a bit longer," Dick coaxes and ruffles the littlest bird's hair. He's the only one who can get away with it and not lose a hand. 

Tim rolls his eyes and stretches in the armchair, not even trying to hide he's bored too. 

Dick waits and soon enough the scene he wants Tim to see is playing. Rather than watching it, he watches Tim and grins the moment it _clicks_. 

Tim's eyes widen and his mouth opens in a little "O" as the gears start turning. "Oh man," he breathes. "It's perfect."

Damian is not getting the reference yet and his little face scrunches up in confusion. "What are you talking about, Drake? There's nothing remotely interesting so far to this movie."

He's ignored as Tim turns his attention on Dick. "This is it, right?" he asks eagerly. 

"Yup. What do you think?" 

"I think it's going to be _legendary_." He instantly takes out his phone but pauses before he opens the screen. "You want Jason in on this, right?"

"Definitely. I asked him to come tonight but he never answered." Dick can't help the glum tone. 

"He's undercover in Central America right now trying to infiltrate a drug cartel," Tim replies easily as his fingers move over the screen. "If you're not in any hurry, we can plan this out and he can join in wherever when he's back. I know this is one he _wants_ to do."

By now Damian's tired of being ignored. "What are you two babbling about?" he all but roars. His voice cracks slightly at the end and he suddenly looks mortified. 

Dick simply ruffles his hair again and pulls him into a loose hug. He’s good at defusing the ticking time bomb that’s his youngest brother. "Little D, that's happened to all of us at some point so just relax. And we're talking about doing another myth together."

The teenager looks interested in spite of himself. "The life raft?"

"Even better," Tim chimes in, fingers still dancing across the screen. He stops and holds out his phone. "Watch this."

Damian watches the clip in silence and nods when it's over. He returns the phone to Tim. "There's some skill in being able to land in such a narrow target under uncontrollable conditions like that. I approve."

"Good," Dick says, feeling very pleased with the results of his plan. "Now let's get back to movie night."

"Can we just skip this one?" Tim asks again. 

"Not unless Damian wants to." Dick knows all too well Damian will want to watch the entire thing just to piss off Tim. 

"No." 

*****

Dick stands at the top of the steep hill and quirks an amused eye at Tim. “Been thinking about this one for a while, haven’t you?”

It’s only been a couple days since he introduced the new myth idea to his brothers and Tim already has the site picked out. The high cliff that’s the base of the hill dropping down into the ocean below doesn’t phase him in the slightest. He’s about 85% sure Tim’s got it covered.

“You have no idea.” Tim shakes his head in wry amusement. “Dropping from a plane onto the slide wasn’t part of my original calculations, but I think it’s safe to say that’s busted without even having to test it.”

Free fall is something Dick knows way too much about. “Yeah, let me dust off my physics, but even a hundred foot drop onto hard packed snow with a flat-bottomed rubber life sounds stupid to me. Maybe landing on the inflated sides and bouncing, there’d be a chance.”

Tim smirks. “Remind me to show you the episode where they tested if a mattress thrown into a swimming pool would break your fall.”

“My ass hurts just thinking about it.” Dick gestures to the cliff. “I’m curious how you’re going to account for _that._ ”

“Kon’s been wanting to do something with us,” Tim explains as his gaze drifts out over the expanse. Dick can see the wheels turning. “I think we build a rig and anchor it to the edge of the cliff to simulate where the pond would be if we were to actually go that route. We build the best slip and slide in the history of _ever_ and throw ourselves off the cliff trying to aim for that point.”

“And Kon catches us,” Dick finishes, seeing where this is going. He nods, liking it immensely. “Perhaps another flier on standby though?” He trusts Kon implicitly and has no doubt about being dropped but he also knows his family and chances are not good about them waiting patiently for their turn.

Tim’s a mind reader if the upward twitch of his lips is anything to go by. “Wouldn’t be a bad idea. I can try Cassie?”

Dick almost agrees but someone else suddenly comes to mind. Someone Jason would like very much if he can convince her to come. “No, let me ask around. I _know_ people.” He grins.

“You know every major hero on the face of this planet and have half of them on speed dial.” Tim rolls his eyes. “I’d say you know people too.”

“I know, isn’t it great?” He tosses an arm over Tim’s shoulder and tugs him around to walk back to the Manor. This has been his life for so long, living it any other way would just be _boring_.

“Yeah, it kinda is,” Tim agrees sheepishly.

*****

All told, it takes six weeks from inception to implementation. Six long weeks while Jason’s out of the country with Roy and Kori backing him up. When he returns, he’s tired, a bit thinner, and sporting a wicked tan.

“Don’t ask,” is all Jason says about it when he arrives at Dick’s apartment for lunch with him and Tim to go over the plan in detail. “There are parts of me that’ve never seen the light of day that have color to them now.”

Dick wants to tease him about it, but knows it won’t end well if he does. “Well, you don’t need to bare quite that much, but swim trunks at least are a must.”

“Take your own advice then, Dickiebird. No one wants to see your ass in a speedo.”

Lies. Wicked lies and they all know it if Tim’s muffled laugh is any indication. “I’ll have you know I’m wearing a wet suit.” He waits for it.

Jason doesn’t disappoint. “And how exactly is that any different from that skintight monstrosity you call a uniform?”

“You tell me. You’ve worn both.” Dick winks, knowing he’s won this round for once.

“So…” Tim interrupts, turning Jason’s attention back on him. “Here’s what we’ve got so far.” He starts outlining what they’ve got done while Dick serves the sandwiches and salad he’d carefully made before his brothers arrived. He’s well aware of the belief that he’s hopeless in the kitchen. It’s not entirely untrue, but in his defense, he’s too busy to take the time to cook.

“…still working on the ramp and the rig. We were waiting for you to get back to check it out before calling Kon to help install it,” Tim finishes up around a mouthful of salad.

Jason nods thoughtfully, sandwich in hand. “Sounds good. What do B and Alfie think about all this?”

Dick chuckles and smiles wryly. “Not too thrilled, but they appreciate the safety precautions we’ve built in.”

“Two fliers on hand.” Jason shakes his head and laughs. It’s a wonderful sound, one that Dick hasn’t heard in so long and it makes him almost preen with delight over being the one to make him do it. “I know Roy would love to get in on this and Kori probably wouldn’t mind acting as a third catcher if I asked. What are your thoughts on inviting friends?”

Considering that Jason’s best friends are also friends of his, Dick doesn’t mind at all. He and Roy have been friends for almost as long as he’s been throwing himself off roofs at night and Kori… well, there are times when he wishes his life was more conducive to having a stable relationship. He’s all but given up on having something long term and is firmly of the opinion that Kori deserves someone who will be exactly that. She knows it. He knows it. It doesn’t make it any easier as they still love each other very much, but Dick won’t hurt her again.

“Dick?” Tim asks cautiously. He’s been quiet for too long as both Tim and Jason are looking at him in concern.

“Friends are fine,” he says quickly. “Kori too. I’ve got someone coming that she’ll love to see.

“Who?” Jason shoves a mouthful of salad in his mouth.

Dick grins. “It’s a surprise.”

*****

Jason stands at the top of the hill looking down at the ramp Dick, Tim, and Damian have built. After lunch, he’d announced he wants to see everything for himself. Tim had to go back to WE, so Dick offered to take him to the Manor. Jason didn’t show any signs of not wanting him along, which he adds to the plus side of his mental scoreboard.

The two men take in the graded earth, plywood, and rolls of hay outlining the area where the rubber slide is going to go. Looking over at Dick, Jason quirks his lips in a crooked smile that wouldn’t look out of place on Tim’s face. “You guys _have_ been busy.”

“Yeah,” Dick smiles ruefully and rubs the back of his head. It’s been a chore and a half trying to get the hill graded properly without losing anything down the edge of the cliff. “Damian threatened to throw Tim over the edge several times when he was told the angle wasn’t quite right.”

The smile morphs into a suppressed laugh. “Yeah, I can totally see that. Baby bird’s anal retentive about shit like this.”

Dick shrugs. “On the show, they only managed to get 30 miles per hour down the ramp and a distance of about 70 feet. Tim wants to get the speed and the distance in the original video, so he’s angled it a bit sharper to see if that helps. The hill itself is about the same height as in the myth.”

“What about lubrication? This is supposed to be a slip and slide after all.” Jason grins sharply, flashing his teeth ever so slightly.

“Tim’s got that covered too. Sprinklers.” Dick waits for it, knowing the opportunity to make a sex joke is hard to resist, but his brother surprises him.

“That kid needs a life.” Jason shakes his head and sighs. “I still feel like a complete dumbass over beer goggles.” It’s the first time he’s ever spoken up about the failed experiment.

“I do too,” Dick agrees, flashing back to the almost terrified expression on Tim’s face when he and Jason boxed him in that night. “But it turned out all right. He could very easily have cut and run and we wouldn’t have heard from him for months.”

“Yeah.” Jason doesn’t say anything else for a few minutes, his eyes darting here and there, taking in all the little signs of Tim’s handiwork and attention to detail. He frowns when he looks out over the edge of the cliff. “I can see why we need the fliers. I definitely think we’ll need Kori too. Not sure how Tim’s planning to get the target out that far unless someone’s holding it.”

Dick welcomes the change of topic. “He says he’s got a plan, but I think it’ll be easier if we just have someone hold the target and the other down below to catch us.”

“I gotta admit, I kinda wish we were gonna land in some water.” Jason eyes the edge of the cliff. “But then again, this is more our style.”

“We jump off buildings every night. Sliding down a hill and into open air over a 300 foot drop is much more our speed.” Dick raises a closed fist and Jason reflexively bumps it. It makes his heart swell with happiness.

Jason doesn’t react at all to the easy motion. “Well, it’s not like the Replacement ever half asses anything. He get the material for the slide yet?”

“Yeah, it arrived last week. We were waiting for you to get home before laying it out. The weather’s been kind of wonky and Tim didn’t want it to rip.” Dick looks up at the clear sky above them. “This is the best day we’ve had in over a week.”

“Well, if the next few days hold, then let’s do this.” Jason nods firmly. “I’ll make some calls.”

*****

Dick can’t help but feel pleased as he takes in the sight of everyone standing on the back terrace of the Manor. They’re all in wetsuits, many in a variety of colors that reflect their usual uniforms. Kori stands out in her purple suit, but Dick’s of the opinion she stands out in anything she wears. She’s standing arm in arm with Donna Troy, both women looking exceptionally pleased to see each other. They’d been the best of friends (and roommates) during their early Titan years and Dick knows from both of them that they never seem to be able to match up schedules to do more than the occasional lunch.

Jason’s jaw had dropped at the sight of Donna when he’d arrived with Roy. He’s always had a thing for her, so Dick hopes he appreciates her being here, even if they both know he’s never going to step up and do anything about it.

Dick walks over to his friends, grinning broadly. “Thank you again for doing this,” he says to Donna. “Not exactly the kind of thing I usually need backup for.”

She shoves him good naturedly. “Dick, I’m glad you called. It’s been way too long since we’ve done something fun.”

“Fighting the sons of Trigon wasn’t fun?” he quips right back.

“As I recall, you weren’t the one they sucked dry,” Kori replies archly with a flip of her long hair.

Roy good naturedly gives her an elbow to the side. “Nope, Dick just got zotted. I seem to remember gaining quite a few waist sizes…”

The four of them trip down memory lane, but Dick quickly notices Jason hanging off to the side with Kon. Shit. Kori and Roy are _his_ friends too and he’s just commandeered them.

He makes an aborted motion to get his brother, but Roy stops him. “He’s okay,” he says, jerking his head over at Jason. “He gets that we’re still friends, Dick, even if the three of us are a team now. I think it’s great that you’re concerned about him feeling left out, but Jay knows we’ve got our own history.”

“And having Donna here is a very unexpected pleasure,” Kori adds, hugging Donna’s arm even closer. She hasn’t let go since she all but launched herself at the woman when she’d arrived.

“So having a mini-Titans reunion is okay,” Roy finishes. “Stop playing the mother bird and have fun with this. I can’t wait to see this thing.” He grins broadly, obviously looking forward to the engineering feat Dick and his brothers have pulled off.

“Okay,” Dick breathes as he casts another, less apprehensive, look at Jason. This time, he catches it and rolls his eyes, before pointedly turning his attention to Kon. He makes some remark no one but the super can hear that has Tim’s best friend busting out laughing.

Donna pats his arm reassuringly with her free hand. “It’ll be fine, Dick. We’re not letting anyone fall today.”

Before Dick can say anything else, Stephanie and Cassandra come barreling out of the house, with Damian and his best friend (only friend) Colin trailing after him.

“Brown! You take that back!” Damian is shouting to the giggling blonde. Cass looks highly amused too, so whatever Steph said must have been good.

“Never!” she cries out theatrically and goes to hide behind Kon, knocking into Jason as she does.

Damian tries to follow, but Dick catches hold of his arm. “Let it go, Damian. At least for now. You can always get her back later on the practice mats.”

“ _Ttt_ ,” Damian huffs. “That woman gets away with everything.”

*****

“Whoa.” Roy stares down the steep slide and the cliff beyond. The light sea breeze ruffles his hair, for once without his ratty cap. He tears his eyes away from the slide to stare at Dick. “You guys did good.”

“Thanks, but all the credit goes to Tim.”

Tim preens under the praise. “A labor of love. Seriously though, I’ve been wanting to do this one for a while.”

“Likewise,” Jason chimes in, resting an arm on Tim’s shoulder. The movement is easy, casual, and Dick suspects he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it. It’s a friendly gesture, one that speaks volumes of the change in their relationship over these last several months. He can’t help the surge of envy that floods through him.

Hopefully this myth will put him on the right track to having that same easy comradery with his Little Wing. Not that he thinks it’ll be smooth sailing, nope, no way. Jason’s prickly, always has been, but Dick’s positive he’ll get through somehow.

“Who’s going first?” Stephanie asks. She looks excited and nervous as she stares down the slide.

“Me.” Damian takes an eager step forward, but Jason grabs his shoulder.

“I nominate this idiot,” he says, pointing at Dick. “It was his idea.”

Cass nods approvingly. “Agreed.”

Damian begrudgingly steps back. “Fine.”

“Aw, thanks guys!” It warms his heart to see Jason taking the initiative.

Jason smirks, like he somehow knows what Dick’s thinking. “That sensitive ass of his will find all the rough spots for the rest of us.”

Dick shakes his head as he approaches the top of the slide. Two steps forward, one step back, just like it always is with Jason.

Kon, Kori, and Donna fly off to assume their positions in the air. This first run is critical as it’ll give them the best gauge of where exactly they’ll peak before falling towards the ocean below. Tim’s done all the math, but even he’s not sure of what speed any of them will come off the slide at.

Tim comes to stand next to Dick, his shoulder lightly brushing his arm. “Give the sprinklers a moment to lube up the slide. You don’t want to get stuck halfway down.”

He snickers. “There’s a sex joke there, Timmy.”

“Shut up.” Tim’s ears burn as he good-naturedly shoves his brother. “Don’t forget the rafts.” He points to the little yellow rubber rafts they bought, one of the ways they thought of to tie it back into the movie.

“Not for the first run.” Dick stares down the steep slide and the edge of the high cliff. From this point, all he sees is the ocean meeting the horizon in the distance. There’s no trepidation as he takes a few running steps to gain some momentum as he throws himself face first down the slide and takes off flying down the hill.

The wind in his ears is familiar, _welcoming_ , as is the adrenaline that rushes through his veins. He gains speed, not bothering to calculate how much (knowing Tim is clocking him with his radar gun), and there’s the end of the slide coming up fast, and then all he sees is _sky_ as he flies through the air.

Instinct takes over and he grins, knowing he has a captive audience. Dick arches his body as only he can and at the height of his trajectory, he folds his limbs in close and rolls.

One somersault.

A second one.

Then a third.

And because he’s a Flying Grayson, a _fourth_.

He unfolds from the somersault no one else is capable of doing and stretches out his arms, his hands grasping for someone.

Warm hands clasp his wrists in a strong, unwavering grip and Dick stares into Kori’s welcoming face. He grins, still feeling the rush as his eyes leave the sky to focus on her. Never once does he look down into the crashing waves below.

“I caught you,” Kori smiles back as she flies them through the air, her red hair leaving a trail of fire in their wake. Her grip shifts so that one arm is wrapped around him. He wraps an arm around her waist in return.

“You always have,” Dick replies easily. “You’ve never let me fall.”

Kori doesn’t reply, but hugs him lightly as they land back at the top of the hill. It doesn’t escape his notice they both linger over the touch. With a huge mental sigh, he squashes down the hope that maybe _this time_ , they can make things work.

Who’s he kidding? Dick has to do this every single time he’s around Kori.

The others, if they even notice, are too polite to say anything.

“That looks like so much fun!” Stephanie shrieks, jumping up and down in excitement.

“Dick!” Tim rushes forward and swats him on the back of the head. “You completely missed the target!”

“Oops,” he replies, completely unrepentant. “Got lost in the air.”

“I’ll say,” Jason adds from next to Roy. “Had to put on a show, didn’t you?”

“Well…” Dick shrugs. “It’s what I do.”

Tim rolls his eyes and stalks back to the start of the slide. “Okay, since the only thing we learned here is that Dick made it down at 36 miles per hour, we’ll need the next victim to actually _aim_ for where they’re supposed to. Who’s next?”

Dick sits in the grass and watches as everyone continues making their case, though he does start laughing when Steph gets in Tim’s face about being called a victim and isn’t this a science experiment?

Jason finally just ignores everyone and goes for it, running up to the edge of the slide like Dick did and throwing himself down. Tim barely has enough time to get his radar gun up to clock his speed. They watch as Jason hits the air and arcs his body out and over the open expanse towards the target Kori and Kon are holding. He dives right through it and plummets down and out of sight towards the ocean below. Donna soon comes flying up with Jason cradled in her arms.

The expression on his face is just as unrepentant as Dick’s was earlier.

“How’s that for hitting the target, Replacement? That was what, 80 feet?”

The two start crunching the numbers, obviously having just as much fun with this as the slide itself. Damian has no patience for them and picks up one of the rafts. He grabs the radar gun from Tim and tosses it to Dick.

“I’m sick of waiting,” is all the teenager says before he takes his mark and does his best imitation of his older brothers as he races for the edge. Colin cheers him on.

Dick can’t help the pleased grin as he clocks his little brother’s speed. It may have taken a while to set everything up, but it was well worth the effort.

He wonders what he and his brothers will come up with next.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Now if Bruce would just cooperate, there will be another installment soon.


End file.
